Disney Cruise Line - Stateroom 12002 Report

*Please Note - The information contained in these stateroom reports represent the opinion of the author, and not necessarily the opinion of the DIS.

Review by: disneywonderfun

Ship: Disney Fantasy

Stateroom: 12002

Condition: 5

Deck: 12

Category: R

Location: Forward

Sail Date: 05/25/13

Notes: In 2011, we were fortunate enough to have sailed on the Disney Dream in the Walt Disney Suite. When we decided to take a vacation with some friends during the summer of 2013, we were particularly lucky to have been able to book the matching cabin on the Fantasy for a one week Western Caribbean cruise. Although I did a full review of our Disney Dream experience over a year ago, I will attempt to provide this new review which may or may not provide some additional insight. I am sure there will be quite a bit of overlap with my other review. Neverthless . . .
We arrived early at Port Canaveral for our May 25, 2013 sailing. Although we had a full week on the ship to relax, my children were particularly enthusiastic to get onboard because of all the excitement in seeing their friends in a venue different from school! Check-in went as smoothly as expected taking less than 10 minutes. Apparently, we incorrectly went through the regular Castaway Club line instead of the concierge line which is now located near the back right portion of the port terminal. After check-in, we sat down in the �not terribly exciting� waiting area for concierge guests. There really is nothing interesting about the area. I think DCL opted for the area strictly so concierge guests can get on the ship in the first wave through the side entrance. Well, that is exactly what we did. By 11:25 AM, we ignored the photo op and were the first guests to board (not including the back-to-back cruise guests which were allowed back on the ship around 10:45 AM!). We were escorted up to the concierge lounge and were allowed in our room around 12:45 PM.
The Walt Disney Suite on the Disney Fantasy is almost identical to that on the Dream. Upon entering, the first thing one will notice is the door that enters into the kitchen area. On the Fantasy, the kitchen includes a full-size subzero built-in refrigerator, a small dishwasher (does anybody actually use it?), a microwave, and a Jura superautomatic coffeemaker. The cabinets are filled with extra silverware settings, plates, and coffee cups. The refrigerator was stocked with milk, sodas, Perrier, and Evian. We requested a freezer full of Mickey Bars to be placed before arrival. To the delight of our kids, DCL completely had that issue under control! The wine refrigerator moved from the kitchen area on the Dream to near the twin Murphy bed in the living room area on the Fantasy. It is actually a nicer model with multiple temperature options. With that being said, we did not have the inclination or need to buy any of the wine in that refrigerator.
A relatively modest full bathroom is located immediately to the left in the entryway. Although the additional bathroom is nice, it was only occasionally used by our family. Passing through the entryway leads to the multifunctional living area. This main area includes two Murphy beds (one full, one twin), a dining room table for eight, a curved couch with ottoman, and an adjacent chair. There is a huge amount of storage space in the cabinets of the main living area. I cannot fathom how anyone could fill even 10% of the available space. There is a fairly large flat screen television in the main living area as well as a blu-ray player. The four wave phones provided are located on the built-in cabinet area. I should mention that the two Royal Suites are the only cabins that can order Palo for room service. We, again, took full advantage of that option. I believe we ordered Palo a total of five nights. Typically, we would go with the kids to dinner, watch them eat, and then spend a relaxing evening in our cabin with Palo delivered while the kids were at the clubs.
Directly to the left of the living area is the master bedroom. It is a nicely appointed bedroom with, again, substantial closet space. There is a smaller flat screen television in the bedroom as well as a clock radio. Relaxing �twinkle lights� are on the ceiling with a wall switch control. A pillow menu is provided to those who find it difficult to sleep without their favorite pillow type. The bed is fairly firm and supportive. I will mention that I did sleep quite well on this cruise.
One of the major highlights for us in the Walt Disney Suite is the master bathroom. It is almost a miniature spa in some ways. The shower includes a wonderful and relaxing rain showerhead as well as an adjustable showerhead. One of my favorite aspects of the shower is that it also includes an adjustable steam shower function. Inside the shower, you can set the steam up to 120 degrees and sit on a side tile bench while your troubles just melt away! In addition to the shower, there is a large Jacuzzi tub made for two. The mirror includes a television if you are so inclined while relaxing in the tub. Alternatively, there are electro-opaque windows that are controlled by a wall switch. So, you can either choose a little privacy or the wonderful daylight and view of the sea while you are using the master bathroom.
The balcony is one of the best areas to relax and enjoy time in the cabin. At approximately 800 square feet, there is ample room to relax in solitude. There is a wonderful hot tub on the balcony as well. It includes variable setting jets and multicolored lights. The maximum temperature setting is 104 degrees which is great on a cool and windy night. Along the railing are purple lights which can be turned on at night for a wonderful effect. Multiple sets of deck furniture are included as well.
Apart from the cabin, the Concierge Lounge and Sundeck do offer additional areas to relax. Sadly for most people, the glorious coffeemaker in the lounge broke during the midpoint of our cruise. Our concierge staff included Andy, P.J., and Alice. All three have their strengths and clearly work well as a team. They certainly made our week much more pleasant and their enthusiasm for our children will always be cherished.
The link to the video tour of the cabin is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9MNH3WhzWQ
The link to the review of the Walt Disney Suite on the Dream is:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2806031
There is little doubt that the Walt Disney Suite on the Fantasy does provide the opportunity for a magical week. I hope you enjoyed this review.

Review by: jlemieu1

Ship: Disney Dream

Stateroom: 12002

Condition: 5

Deck: 12

Category: R

Location: Forward

Sail Date: 11/29/12

Notes: What a great cabin!!! Loved the extra room. The master bedroom was great and comfortable. Our 2 girls liked the Murphy beds, no issues about comfort. Having your own hot tub was my favorite part of the whole trip. One issue about the tub is that we would have liked to adjust the temperature a little bit higher since it was in Dec. Being in forward part of the ship the verandah was well shielded from the wind from the high angled railing. The bathroom was also too cool. This is the Disney suite with the bathroom on the verandah side. I could not help myself playing with the electronic shade. The kicthen with the full frig was great although being on a 3 day cruise we only used it to hold soda and Mickey bars.
One note: I never knew that you could join all three cabin: 12002, 12000, 12502. There is a short hallway/room that connects all three cabins. So to get to 12000 you need to go through this room.

Review by: bzss7x

Ship: Disney Fantasy

Stateroom: 12002

Condition: 5

Deck: 12

Category: R

Location: Forward

Sail Date: 07/14/12

Notes: This is the Walt Disney Suite. We were fortunate enough to stay in it for 7 nights.
It is very large. There are 2 bathrooms, a full kitchen (with fully stocked fridge and cappuccino machine), a living area where two murphy beds fold down (one double, one twin) and a dining area. The dining table seats 8. In the main living area, there a large couch with a side chair and round ottoman. The master has a queen bed, a TV, a desk, and a vast amount of closet area. The master bath has a jacuzzi tub, a steam shower, marble floors and walls, and a TV in the bathroom mirror. The windows in the bathroom have "Smart glass" - which is clear glass that becomes frosted in a instant when a switch is flipped. Cool stuff.
The biggest feature of all is the veranda. It is enormous. Fifty people could easily congregate out there. It boasts a hot tub, four chairs, and two loungers. You'll want to spend every moment out there. Since it's located in the front, it's like no one else is on the ship.
The room comes with perks such as Palo in room dining and unlimited free internet. The staff brings snacks and restocks the fridge daily. We loved the concierge lounge as well.
If you can possibly afford this room, get it. I will say that it would have been even better had we traveled with another family. (Only 5 can sleep in this room, but the veranda and dining room could easily entertain many more.) It has connecting doors to rooms 12000 (1 BR) and 12004 (Cat V). Ideally another party could stay in one of those and share this wonderful room.
In closing, the best pictures I've seen so far is from Disneywonderfun's trip report about the Dream's Walt Disney Suite. His pictures are great. The rooms are 99% identical, so his pictures are most helpful. Happy sailing.
PM me with any questions.

Review by: disneywonderfun

Ship: Disney Dream

Stateroom: 12002

Condition: 5

Deck: 12

Category: R

Location: Forward

Sail Date: 09/11/11

Notes: I simply cut and paste my review from the Trip Report Forum just to make sure it was a little more easy to find in the future. Feel free to search over in that forum as I included pictures and a link to a video of the cabin. Enjoy.
Our recent cruise on the Disney Dream was exceptional in so many ways that hopefully this review will be able to convey our experience as fully as possible. We originally decided on a Disney Dream cruise for the fall of 2011 after enjoying previous cruises on the Magic and Wonder during the previous two years.
We opted for the Walt Disney Suite which is classified as a �Concierge Royal Suite with Verandah�. It is located on the port side of Deck 12 forward with its nearly matching Roy Disney Suite on the starboard side. Listed at 1781 square feet including the balcony, it is the largest cabin category available on the Disney fleet.
We arrived at Port Canaveral around 1:15 pm after spending the morning visiting the Kennedy Space Center. The process of checking-in at the Port was exceptionally quick and efficient. A Disney representative escorted us from the check-in area, over to the kids club registration area, and then directly onto the ship. The entire process at the Port took less than 15-20 minutes from our arrival. The timing was almost perfect as we were allowed to immediately go to our cabin. Before checking our new home for the next five days, we stopped by the concierge lounge. The concierge staff on our cruise included Thomas, Julia, and Melanie. We had met Thomas previously on the Disney Wonder the prior year when we stayed in the Roy Disney Suite. Although I will comment more on our concierge staff throughout this review, suffice it to say that they were all outstanding. After a few minutes relaxing in the lounge, Thomas walked us over to our cabin to provide us with a tour.
As we entered the cabin, we were first taken by the open floor plan. As opposed to the Roy Disney Suite on the Wonder, the living spaces are not compartmentalized. There are basically three major areas to the cabin: the living/dining room, the bedroom, and the balcony. Within those areas, however, there is some level of further subdivision. Immediately adjacent to the entryway is a small kitchenette which includes a sink, microwave, wine refrigerator, Jura coffeemaker, full-size refrigerator (stocked daily with cans of soda and milk), and extensive dishware/glassware. A double sliding glass window interconnects the kitchenette to the area adjacent to the dining room table. A relatively modest bathroom including a shower is located off the entry hallway. Opening into the living/dining room is a large dining room table with eight seats. Along the wall to the right of the table are two Murphy beds. One is a full size bed while the other is a twin. Both include sliding curtains which entirely surround each bed and allow for a surprising amount of privacy. Each Murphy bed has a reading light. The living room area has a semicircular style couch as well as a separate chair and two ottomans. The flat screen television is fairly large and associated with a large built-in storage until. Something new on the Dream for us were free �on demand� movies. On the Wonder we would borrow DVDs from the concierge. However, with a fairly large selection of �on demand� movies, we did not have to borrow a single DVD. Somewhat unhelpful with Disney�s setup is that you cannot watch a second �on demand� movie while the first one is playing on another television.
The bedroom includes a queen-size bed with several pillows. An additional pillow menu is available and provides a wide variety of choices. Four wave phones are provided on the desk of the bedroom. Another television with DVD player is included. Several large closets, a safe, slippers, and robes are also in the bedroom. The bedroom can be made private from the living room area by closing the French doors. The ceiling does have twinkle lights. The master bathroom has virtually everything you might want. A two person Jacuzzi is prominently placed in the middle. A two sink vanity with yet another television built into the mirror is directly adjacent to the Jacuzzi. A separate rain shower with an independently controlled sauna is also in the bathroom. The windows can be changed from clear to opaque by a wall switch.
The balcony is the central area for relaxation in the Walt Disney Suite. A rough guess is that the balcony must constitute somewhere around 600 square feet. There are three areas where Disney placed furniture on the balcony. In addition, an outdoor whirlpool with underwater multicolor lights is on the balcony.
So, what was our favorite aspect of the cabin. I think the balcony with the whirlpool was unquestionably the most memorable. While out on the open sea, you feel like you are in your own private world despite the four thousand other passengers on board. If you cannot sleep at night, you can always go outside and sit in the 102 degree whirlpool and just let whatever concerns simply melt away. Our kids (4 and 10) basically treated the whirlpool like their own small swimming pool.
The Royal Suites on the Dream have a few perks that otherwise are not available elsewhere. According to the concierge staff, only the Royal Suites can order Palo for room service. We had that same perk on the Wonder and did not hesitate to use it again on the Dream. A menu for Palo is available in the concierge lounge and your order is placed with any of the concierges that happen to be there. Of note, the one bedroom suites on the Dream are also allowed to order from any of the three rotational restaurants as well (but not Palo). When Palo is brought for room service, they setup your dining room table with a tablecloth and generally bring the meal in three waves: appetizers, main courses, and desserts. If you ever wanted your children to be able to dine at Palo, I think this is basically the only possible option to have it almost happen. Another nice perk of the Royal Suite is that you are provided with unlimited internet usage. The other rooms on the concierge level are provided 100 free minutes. I found the internet service to be entirely reasonable. Some websites which require large data transfer rates (i.e. Skype) are blocked from use. Nevertheless, I never had much of a problem connecting and staying online. We brought our own iPad on the trip although concierge guests are able to borrow an iPad while onboard (although those did appear to be the iPad 1 version).
When I thought about this review, I decided to limit my commentary about what one can expect when staying specifically in the Walt Disney Suite. So, I am not going to spend any time whatsoever discussing the general ship details, Castaway Cay, the rotational restaurants, etc. Nevertheless, there were various additional aspects that made our trip truly memorable. First and foremost, the concierge staff was absolutely great! Thomas, Julia, and Melanie each have their individual strengths but all were incredibly helpful. Basically no request was beyond their ability to resolve. More importantly, however, they were able to truly anticipate our needs as the voyage progressed. For example, our children love Mickey Bars. Well, since we have a full size refrigerator, our concierge brought us eight Mickey Bars to have in our freezer. They even brought up another supply of Mickey Bars without our asking after we had some friends over on the balcony one evening and consumed all of the ice cream! Another example of the quality of the concierge staff concerns my daughter�s hobby of collecting Disney pins. When Julia noticed our daughter�s lanyard, she took it upon herself to coordinate a �Magical Moment� where our daughter was the official passenger representative to the Officer�s Pin Trading event on the last night of the cruise. She assisted in the event and was even given a very special Disney cruise line pin for all her hard �work�. I also would hate to not mention our cabin steward, Jose. He was simply spectacular in the upkeep of our cabin.
I am certain there are more than a few things I have forgotten to mention. Nevertheless, I hope this review was helpful for anybody considering a voyage on the Dream.

Ship: Disney Dream

Stateroom: 12002

Condition: 5

Deck: 12

Category: R

Location: Forward

Sail Date: 06/03/11

Notes: We stayed in the Dream's Walt E. Disney suite with our two kids, 8 and 5. We also traveled with two other families that stayed in the 1-bedroom suites (12006 & 12012), basically right next door. The suite is fantastic and became a gathering space for our families, especially the expansive deck outside with the hot tub (used by the kids mostly). However, what makes the suite truly great is just being in the concierge area, which feels like a private yacht following the already fantastic Disney cruise. So really any room/suite on deck 12 concierge will benefit. The concierge lounge always felt like our own, and there was always a variety of yummy treats, evening snacks, Evian, drinks, wine, liquor, etc. available for the taking. In fact, the only time we ever ordered room service was the day at sea when the concierge arranged for all 13 of us to have hot breakfast from the restaurant delivered to our suite and everyone enjoyed a nice breakfast out on our deck.
The suite itself is decked out with lots of features, almost to a fault. The entry area is nice but it's awkward to get into the kitchen area through the large swinging door. The full size refrigerator is great, but was really just filled with lots of drinks and we never used the freezer side. Just like the Roy suite review mentioned, the fancy espresso maker is too complicated to want to worry about on your own (in fact, the machine looked unused, even on the 36th cruise) and a full complement of coffee, cappuccino and espresso is down the hall in the lounge 10 feet away. The murphy beds are a full and a twin, perfect for our kids but an adult might not like the hard mattresses. Both had their own privacy curtains, plenty of storage space, and very nice independent lighting controls for each bed. Den area is a mirror of the Roy suite. The master bedroom is a little different... it has its bathroom against the outside deck and includes a switch that turns the windows translucent or transparent... very cool. However, the bathroom's configuration is quite crowded; they tried to put a lot of high design in the bathroom and it's hard to move around. You can't really have two people at the double vanity at the same time. Because of the curve of the room, the mirrors cut off basically at the middle of the sinks, so when you're trying to do something over the sink (like brushing teeth or shaving) you can't center yourself over the sink and still see yourself in the mirror... one sink in the middle would have sufficed and been more ergonomic. The jacuzzi tub takes up 90 percent of the space in the bathroom and there aren't enough spaces for the clean towels to be close to the shower (which is what you're using most of the time), so you're always awkwardly moving around the tub to get a towel, etc. The bathroom is quite soundproof with the sliding door closed off from the bedroom. The master in the Walt suite does not have the 'nook' chair that the Roy suite has, due to the reverse of the bedroom in the back vs. the bathroom by the windows, but perhaps because of this, seems to have an endless amount of storage. Between the master and the areas by the murphy beds, there is more than enough space for everything you might bring for a 3-month cruise, and we were only there for 4 nights! The flat screen TV is mounted on the wall in the master and does not rise from the foot of the bed like the Roy suite.
Overall, we enjoyed the suite very much, especially with our large group.